lookie here:

How can you feel pretty without Nair?

Before I get started, full disclosure: I haven't shaved or depilated anything in nine years and I just don't come in contact with much advertising. (It's amazing what you miss when you fast-forward through commercials and don't buy mainstream magazines.)

So you're at an age when the childhood fuzz is becoming thicker and coarser hair. It's time to give some serious thought to removing it. But you'll soon see, getting smooth, silky skin with Nair® depilatories is simple and a fun way to treat yourself right!

(Emphasis added.)

Nair is marketing Nair Pretty to girls between the ages of ten and fifteen. The advertisements can be found in magazines such as CosmoGirl, Seventeen and Redbook. Why Redbook? So mothers of girls in the target age group can buy this product for their daughters, of course.

How wrong is this? If someone wants to remove her/his body hair that's one thing and there's certainly nothing wrong with it. It's something completely different to suggest that women must remove all hair the moment it stops being "childhood fuzz." Going through Nair's site it's obvious that "treating yourself right" means conforming to someone else's standard's of beauty. I think it's worth mentioning that in this instance the someone else stands to make money if young women do indeed conform.

What stands out to me is that nowhere on their site is keeping your body hair listed as an option. It is assumed that young women will remove their hair one way or another but preferably with Nair's product. In other words, women do not have the option to enjoy their bodies as they come but must put time, effort and cash into making their bodies meet someone else's standards. While the current trend is toward hair removal and much of the media portrays hairlessness as highly attractive, I didn't realize women no longer had any other options.

At the message boards I see lots of people trying to figure out how to accept themselves and their bodies. A lot of the teens that come here have questions about what's normal and what other people find attractive. What we try to do is encourage everyone to love themselves as is, without forcing themselves into stereotypes or trends. Nair has chosen to target people who are just beginning that process and instead of offering one option among many, they present female body hair as unnatural and unattractive -- something to be dealt with as soon as possible. Apparently it's all too easy to forget (or just plain ignore) that hair is perfectly natural and the most attractive people are usually the ones who feel comfortable with their bodies.

Comments

How did you reach the stage of feeling truly comfortable with all your hair? I don't mean to sound rude by asking this, but given the reactions and attitudes of the general public (plus advertising which can't be avoided; in shops, cinemas, bottles of shampoo), I find it difficult to see how any woman can truly resist the ideal of a 'sexy', attractive woman as one who is (preferably) shaven/ hairless in several expected areas? I quite love the idea of just not bothering with it, but I doubt I'd ever manage. People just expect you to always do it... Plus, with regards to underarm hair and pubic hair (particularly during oral sex, if one wishes) then it can also be more hygenic to remove hair?

You know, it's more about being comfortable with my body than anything else. I love my body and my body grows hair so that's good enough for me. Something else that helped is when I did stop shaving: not too many people noticed and even fewer cared. It's easy to assume everyone is scrutinizing us, but I routinely wear shorts that do not hide the thick, dark hair on my legs without attracting attention. Another thing, if you agree that smooth skin is sexy that's okay. While I totally agree that the media shoves that ideal down our throats, that doesn't mean it's wrong be attracted to that image. I personally find hair more attractive and that's part of the reason I choose to leave mine on my body. As far as hygiene goes, there's nothing terribly hygienic about open nicks and cuts. In fact, pubic hair helps prevent things like underwear fuzz and such from entering the vagina, much like eyebrows help prevent things from getting in our eyes.

the abouts:

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